Sunday, May 31, 2009

The U.S. has had an all-volunteer military for over 30 years, and it seems that the overall understanding of our military’s mission has extensively decreased as fewer and fewer Americans have any connection to the military.

Those Americans in their late 70s and their 80s and 90s can well remember their service during World War II. Then there are the Korean and Vietnam vets. But since the war in Vietnam the men and women who have served in Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan have volunteered.

And, as one member of a military family recently said, those families with a military tradition are being asked to carry more and more of the obligation of protecting our country.

I have a very simple proposal to counteract this increasing isolation of military families: Mandatory teaching in U.S. history courses taught in elementary and secondary school about the current U.S. military and its mission.

Young Americans, both male and female, BEFORE they graduate high school should have an appreciation of the branches of the U.S. military and the options that those branches can offer high school graduates.

Even if my proposal were enacted and didn’t increase the volunteers for the military, at the very least there should be an increased appreciation for those Americans who do serve.

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Novelist T.K. Marion discussed his "author for a cause" fundraising efforts on the BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com that Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com and I co-host.

T.K.'s most recent novel, KILL THE DEVIL, takes place during the Civil War, and his novel due out next month, EAST WIND RAIN, takes place in Virginia during the Cold War.

Starting yesterday on Memorial Day, T.K. has kicked off his biggest "author for a cause" fundraising effort to date -- raising funds through a percentage of his book sales to support Disabled American Veterans. T.K. also has an excellent idea for corporations to support this fundraising effort -- buy T.K.'s novels in bulk and distribute to VA hospitals.

The May 26th Wall Street Journal -- the day after Memorial Day this year -- carried the article "Gates Says Taliban Have Momentum in Afghanistan" by Yochi J. Dreazen and August Cole.

What's amazing to me, after reading the book FIRST IN by Gary C. Schroen (see my earlier blog post about this book), is that I believe the U.S. military is in the position we now face in Afghanistan precisely because the American public got tired of the fighting in Afghanistan after we first engaged in the fall of 2001.

Perhaps if we didn't always "dissipate" American public support our country's foreign affairs policy would be more stable.

Here's the opening of The Wall Street Journal article:

American public support for the Afghan war will dissipate in less than a year unless the Obama administration achieves "a perceptible shift in momentum," Defense Secretary Robert Gates said in an interview.

Mr. Gates said the momentum in Afghanistan is with the Taliban, who are inflicting heavy U.S. casualties and hold de facto control of swaths of the country.

The defense chief has been moving aggressively to salvage the war in Afghanistan, signing off on the deployments of 21,000 American military personnel and recently taking the unprecedented step of firing the four-star general who commanded all U.S. forces there. Mr. Gates, speaking in his cabin on an Air Force plane, said the administration is rapidly running out of time to turn around the war.

"People are willing to stay in the fight, I believe, if they think we're making headway," he said. "If they think we're stalemated and having our young men and women get killed, then patience is going to run out pretty fast."

Sunday, May 24, 2009

For Memorial Day, Lindy Kyzer, a public affairs specialist in the U.S. Army’s Online and Social Media Division of the Office of the Chief of Public Affairs, requested that bloggers supportive of the U.S. military publish on their blogs the following special article written by Colonel David Sutherland, the Middle East Region Division Chief on the Joint Staff who served as the commander of the 3rd Heavy Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division, deployed to Diyala Province, Iraq, from October 2006 to December 2007.

While immense honor is paid to our men and women who have died in combat, I was recently reminded of a void where we, as citizens of this brave nation, often fall short.

A mother of one of my fallen soldiers recently expressed sadness at how unfamiliar most Americans are with the concept of Gold Star families, those who have lost loved ones in a time of war. They bravely remain at home with a silent fear, constantly praying they never receive that dreaded knock on their doors.

Unfortunately, Memorial Day has been embedded with the myriad of holidays we often forget the true meaning of and take for granted. Unless directly affected, [Memorial Day] often becomes a reason to sleep in, party or shop, rather than the day of remembrance and tribute it was declared to be.

However, this amazing American, like many Gold Star mothers before her, turned her sacrifice and loss into inspiration for service – leaving a lucrative position at a consulting firm to serve in a contractor team in Iraq.

Other Gold Star families have started non-profits focused on serving those that protect and harness our freedom. They devote their lives to the service of our men and women, shipping supplies to schools in Iraq, forming support groups for others mourning loss, or by becoming politically active to advocate veterans’ causes.

Through all of their difficulties, the dedication of our military families remains. It is, after all, their support that allows us to remain the greatest fighting force in the world. As our service members raise their right hand to enlist or re-enlist, our families are right there with them. These families are the cornerstone of our strength – their sacrifices are great.

I recently had the honor of presenting General David Petraeus, U.S. Central Command commander, with the No Greater Sacrifice Foundation’s Freedom Award. During the ceremony, which honors the children of our fallen men and women, there were many Gold Star families in attendance. It was an honor to be amongst such strength and perseverance.

I asked one of the spouses what she would want the world to know about her husband, Staff Sgt. Donnie Dixon. With a moment of reflection, she boldly said, “Donnie was not just known for his sacrifice in the Army, but also for his family.

The love for his wife and four children – Shabria, Donnie Jr., Ta'Mya, and D'Andre, was his strength. “When we did our video teleconference [just before he was killed], I remember asking him why was he back out on patrol after [having been wounded in a recent suicide bombing]. His response was, ‘Ma, this is my job.’

“Right then I knew that after serving 17 years in the military, his heart was much bigger than I realized. Donnie not only lived his life ‘Army Strong,’ but left us with a smile that would last a lifetime.”

Donnie and countless others unselfishly left their Gold Star families behind to continue the struggle in their absence. These families have lost their father, brother, sister, mother, son, daughter and the love of their lives while serving a cause far greater than most can imagine.

As I reflect on the meaning of Memorial Day, I humbly honor those members of the military I had the pleasure of serving with, most importantly my fallen and wounded soldiers, who fought as true warriors and ultimately paid the greatest sacrifice. They are my heroes – their sacrifices are great.

We execute this mission with the support of a great cadre of veterans looking forward to a Middle East region of secure, stable, independent, peaceful and responsibly governed states, where the freedom and dignity of the peoples of the region are protected.

So this Memorial Day I ask you to join me. Recommit yourselves to not only remember our fallen service members, but the other half of our fallen who quietly serve, and often continue serving on their soldiers’ behalf after their loved ones are gone.

Never forget that this day is not only a symbol of our soldiers’ sacrifices, but the sacrifices of their families, friends and comrades in arms.

The May 23-24 article “Stalemate” by Michael M. Phillips about the abandoned village Now Zad in Afghanistan was promoted this way:

A single company of U.S. Marines is slugging it out with the Taliban in Afghanistan’s toughest ghost town. The battle shows how limited troop numbers have hurt the war—and why the U.S. is changing its strategy.

I read the article carefully, then had my husband read the article carefully. Both of us were perplexed. We didn’t understand the U.S. military strategy at Now Zad – it really makes little sense.

Both of us were left with the impression that The Wall Street Journal ran this story for this exact reason: To beam a spotlight on the situation at Now Zad and get someone high up in U.S. military circles to take note and decide on a military strategy that makes more sense.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com and I were privileged to each screen the documentary HALLOWED GROUNDS before interviewing Glenn Marcus on our May 21st BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com.

HALLOWED GROUNDS was directed by Emmy Award-winner Robert Uth and produced and written by Robert Uth and Glenn Marcus. And it will be shown by PBS stations on Memorial Day (see local PBS listings or the website of the American Battle Monuments Commission for show information).

Neither Nancy -- a former Marine -- nor I -- a former Mrs. Lieutenant -- had any idea how many foreign military cemeteries the U.S. maintains.

And for me one of the most compelling parts of the documentary is the historical footage that explains the battles in World War I and II that led to the creation of the specific cemeteries. And this footage includes the stories of nurses who gave their lives in the fighting.

Another compelling part is how grateful the citizens of those countries we liberated still are today. They bring schoolchildren to the cemeteries to teach what the Americans sacrificed to free their countries.

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

The nonprofit organization USATogether.org was started by Silicon Valley high-tech individuals.So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that the site employs some of the best marketing features of the Internet.

This volunteer organization site announces:USA Together lets you help meet a specific injured service member's needs during their recovery.

And as Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com and I learned during our May 19th BlogTalkRadio show interview of Dave Mahler, founder of USA Together, support by Americans across the country – strangers to the military personnel they help – means a great deal to these injured veterans.

Those of you who have been reading my posts here know that I’m a big believer in email marketing – capturing the email addresses of people who visit your Website so that you can send follow-up emails.

USATogether.org uses this Internet technology to ask its Website visitors to sign up for notifications of injured military personnel requests.You can get all the email notices or you can sign up to only receive specific area notices or specific category notices.

And, in my opinion, the best use of this technology is what USATogether is now doing – contacting all organizations that help U.S. military personnel and asking these organizations to sign up for the email alerts.

Thus, instead of injured military personnel trying to figure out which of all these organizations is the correct one to help with a particular need, an organization can get the email alerts and immediately reach out to those personnel who fit that organization’s criteria.

Injured military personnel and their families are certainly lucky that Dave Mahler, driving by his local VA Hospital, was moved to enter the grounds for the first time in 20 years and ask how he could help.The result is USATogether.org and its use of Internet marketing techniques to help our injured military personnel.

And, if USATogether.org can use email marketing for its amazing outreach program, surely you can consider using email marketing for your own Website.

Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Thanks to Brit Daniel Needlestone on Twitter alerting me to this incredible Australian Vietnam War class project, here is a guest post from Australian secondary school teacher Tomaz Lasic in Perth, Western Australia.

Tomaz is 39 (too young to personally remember the Vietnam War), and he migrated to Australia from the former Yugoslavia, where he experienced civil war firsthand in the early 1990's.

I particularly wanted Tomaz to write about this Australian Vietnam War personal history project because many Americans do not realize that Australians fought alongside Americans in Vietnam. Please read this guest post and share it with others.

Who do you think would say something like that with a wry smile, slight inflection at the end, as if there was a question mark at the end of the statement, and meant it as a height of compliment during the Vietnam War?

An Australian who served in Vietnam alongside American troops. Many of them, 50,000 in fact, all between 1962 and 1973.

Of these, 520 never made it back home and 4200 were wounded in the flesh. Plus hundreds more and their families were affected in ways that we know a lot, less or still nothing much about – nearly 40 years on!

Vietnam War was the one that divided and changed our nation [Australia]. From conscription “marbles,” jungles, mines, parades and protests, to return and dismay, our veterans have borne the brunt of this change.

My class and I have decided to explore this proud, divisive and in so many ways extraordinary period in the history of our nation and the world. But rather than just reading a textbook with events, names and places, we wanted to hear real stories from real people, then start “connecting the dots.”

This will make our learning and understanding much deeper, much more real and meaningful beyond a test and a grade.

We wanted to create something unique, useful, something people can contribute to as well (and that includes you, dear reader). We have used the power of digital tools and networks to tap into the human network of stories and events extending way beyond the walls of our classroom.

The stories we are collecting are not only stories of the veterans, but those of protesters, refugees, public figures, mothers, brothers, siblings … anyone who remembers the time of the Vietnam War. Then, we put them on a map.

We are primarily interested in stories relating to experiences of Australians and/or people who either lived in or fled to Australia at the time of the war.

This is NOT to say we would not love to hear from anyone else – it will only broaden the knowledge and perspective of those working with our map.

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The nonfiction book FIRST IN: An Insider's Account of How the CIA Spearheaded the War on Terror in Afghanistan by Gary C. Schroen was published in 2005. Today the book is probably more relevant than when it was published.

In the author's afterword he says: "While there are positive developments taking place in Afghanistan, progress rests on a shaky foundation."

Today as more U.S. troops are sent to Afghanistan to deal with what is clearly a deteriorating situation, these two paragraphs from the book's afterword are very contemporary:

The most significant area of unfinished business in the war on terrorism is centered in the border areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Our current mode of operations and the structure of our military and CIA forces in those border areas are ineffective in bringing the fight to the enemy hiding in those mountains. The strategy should be reconsidered and U.S. military Special Forces units returned to the area, along with seasoned CIA SAD paramilitary officers.

At the same time, U.S. diplomatic policy toward Pakistan should be reviewed and reconsidered, with the aim of strengthening the Pakistani government's, and their military leadership's, resolve to press hard to root out terrorist strongholds and hiding places in the tribal areas.

If you want to understand what's happening right now in Afghanistan and Pakistan, read FIRST IN now. The author does an exceptionally good job of explaining the Afghan culture that so impacts a military victory as well as explaining the policy constraints in the U.S. that can hinder that victory.___

Thursday, May 14, 2009

On the May 13th BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com that I co-host with Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com we spoke for a second time with Dennis Norris, the executive director of the five-year-old nonprofit Spirt of America.

Dennis has just returned from his first trip to Afghanistan to get a firsthand look at how the medical and other non-weapon supplies furnished by Spirit of America are being used.

The interview was reassuring that the U.S. can befriend the Afghan people when the right resources are implemented.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

The May 13th Wall Street Journal carried a front-page news blurb about this deadly incident at a Baghdad counseling center and then ran a complete story on page A12.

The sergeant had had "multiple deployments" and:

Military officers familiar with the investigation said that members of Sgt. Russell's unit warned their immediate superiors several weeks ago that the middle-aged soldier was behaving dangerously. Commanders confiscated Sgt. Russell's M-4 rifle and handgun and referred him to the center for outpatient counseling.

This paragraph is very important because the military has been running a campaign to get military personnel to be alert to comrades who need mental help. (See the ad with this post.)

The Journal article went on to say (boldface is mine):

The military has launched an investigation into the general availability of mental-health services and policies in Iraq, Gen. Perkins said. He added that the military was doing everything it could to avoid another incident.

The probe also will examine how the military diagnoses and treats mental and behavioral health problems. The military's suicide rate has risen sharply in recent years, and some studies suggest that as many as one out of every six troops may suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder.

Those of you who read this blog regularly and listen to the BlogTalkRadio show www.YourMilitaryLife.com that I co-host with Nancy Brown of www.YourMilitary.com know that the topic of PTSD -- Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder -- is one of our main areas of interest. Nancy and I want to make as many people as possible aware of the symptoms so that they can spot those who need help.

Please go to my new site www.InSupportofOurTroops.com right now and sign up to get Heather Hummert's free report "PTSD: What You Need to Know." The life you may save by helping someone get help could be of someone you love.____

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Tuesday, May 12, 2009

The military doctors, nurses, orderlies and other military personnel seen in the documentary FIGHTING FOR LIFE are truly as heroic as are the combat-wounded men and women whose lives the medical personnel fight to save.

Nancy Brown of www.YourMilitary.com and I both screened the documentary before interviewing the producer/director/writer Terry Sanders on our BlogTalkRadio show www.YourMilitaryLife.com.

Nancy and I agreed with Terry that he showed the bloody hospital scenes in a manner that doesn't make viewers turn away from the film. Instead, you want to follow what's happening to these wounded military personnel. And, as Terry said, the film should be seen by Americans so that we all keep in mind our wounded veterans.

Check your local PBS station for date and time that this documentary will be shown this Memorial Day weekend. Or go to www.fightingforlifethemovie.com for both your local PBS listing and to order the DVD.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

This website is for the upcoming inspirational book about the amazing people I've "met" through this blog (started in March 2008 a month before MRS. LIEUTENANT was published) and the BlogTalkRadio show YourMilitaryLife.com that I co-host with Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com.

My goal for the website and the book IN SUPPORT OF OUR TROOPS is to inspire Americans to support the projects of the people featured in the book or start their own projects that support the troops.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Thursday, May 7, 2009

What can you say when you learn that the guest on the BlogTalkRadio show you co-host with Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com has been suffering his PTSD symptoms the last few days due to his upcoming interview on the show?

Thank you, Bob Page, for being willing to suffer to help others.

In the interview Bob talks about his assignment to bodyguard the Jewish chaplain -- the chaplain and Bob had volunteered to move forward with the first Marines entering Iraq when the chaplain who was suppose to go forward quit.

Bob and the chaplain were in some pretty heavy direct fire, and at one point Bob saved the Jewish chaplain's life by digging a hole, throwing the chaplain into it, and covering the chaplain's body with his own.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

From 1970 to 1972 my husband was a U.S. Army intelligence officer, and I eventually worked as a civilian for a U.S. Army intelligence unit in Munich.

While we didn't have to burn our personal mail as our colleagues did in Berlin, we were under numerous security regulations, including no travel to Eastern European countries -- for fear we would be abducted for what we knew or didn't know. (I plan to write about this European experience in the sequel to MRS. LIEUTENANT.)

To this day my husband and I are both security conscious. And just the other day I had been telling him how careful Trish Forant, founding president of eMailOurMilitary.com, is with the information she handles for her organization.

So when I got the following message from the eMailOurMilitary.com Facebook group to which I belong, I asked Trish's permission to reprint her message here because what she says is so important for all of us to remember:

It has come to our attention that there are people who do not wish to go through the registration process in full to become eMOM members and support our troops.

Unlike some other organizations, eMail Our Military requires that troop supporters provide basic information before they are given access to membership and our service members support information.

Before you can become an approved member and receive the name, rank, address and email address for a service member you must register with your name, address, phone # and email address.

As stated on our website and registration form, for the safety and security of our military personnel, we ask that registrants kindly take a moment to fill out our membership registration form in full.

Having this information ensures that our military service members are protected in case problems should arise.

Because eMOM members DIRECTLY support the U.S. effort to end terrorism and are corresponding and supporting our deployed troops one-on-one, we believe that anyone who wishes to become a member won't mind sharing some basic information to ensure the safety and security of our deployed troops.

If you believe this is too much information, we disagree. When it comes to the safety and security of our military service members, you can NEVER be too safe.

eMail Our Military and its officers will cooperate fully with the Department of Defense, Homeland Security, the FBI and all other appropriate governmental authorities to investigate all violations if our site or service is used in any way with the intent to harm our military service members or civilian volunteers, or you send anything illegal and/or prohibited.

Regrettably, if someone is unwilling to share some basic information to ensure the safety and security of our military personnel, they will not be able to receive basic information on the service members we support.

If there are some extenuating circumstances involved and you do not have all of the required information but can provide other means of verification, we are more than happy to discuss the matter with you.

We want everyone to have the ability to support our troops and we want every service member to receive support.

Visit eMailOurMilitary.com now and learn how you can support Trish's organization and our troops.___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Wednesday, May 6, 2009

On the May 5th show of YourMilitaryLife.com our guest forgot to show up for her interview. So co-hosts Nancy Brown of YourMilitary.com (see photo at right) and I had to "step up to the plate" and fill our 30-minute live show.

It actually turned out to be a very good show as this is the one-year anniversary of Nancy and me working together as an internet team. We reviewed our year together, highlights of the past six months of the show (which launched in November), looked forward to our May 12th interview of the director of the documentary FIGHTING FOR LIFE, and talked about a new nonfiction book project of mine.

If you've ever wanted to hear more about Nancy and me than what comes out in bits and pieces when we conduct an interview, check out our May 5th one-year team anniversary YourMilitaryLife.com show.

P.S. Yes, we're having a good time doing the show.___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Tuesday, May 5, 2009

The technician at my doctor’s office yesterday-- the anniversary of the Kent State shootings on May 4, 1970 -- told me that last May he attended in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the 40th reunion of his Vietnam battalion. (He plans to attend the next scheduled reunion in Richmond, Virginia, in May of 2010.)

He had enlisted in the Navy, attended corpsman school, and then volunteered to go to Vietnam, serving in Da Nang. (Yes, he was there during the Tet offensive; I asked him.)

And then he talked about the bitterness with which he was greeted upon his return. The whole country had changed, he said. When he left, the Beatles were singing love songs; when he returned, they were wearing rose-colored glasses.

Do you know what they called us? he asked. Yes, I said. They called you baby killers.

To slightly change the subject, I told him that the night before I had screened the documentary FIGHTING FOR LIFE by Terry Sanders. The documentary depicts military doctors and nurses as well as their patients who are wounded in Iraq.

(Nancy Brown of www.YourMilitary.com and I will be interviewing Terry Sanders on our BlogTalkRadio show www.YourMilitaryLife.com on Tuesday, May 12th, at 6:30 p.m. Eastern.)

I told the technician that battlefield medicine had changed a great deal since Vietnam. But the truth is that the documentary’s opening scene is the scene I always connect with Vietnam – soldiers running, running with a stretcher, every second possibly the difference between life and death for the soldier on the stretcher.

FIGHTING FOR LIFE is uplifting – showing the miraculous recoveries being made today by some wounded military personnel. Look up the show listing for your PBS station for Memorial Day weekend or order the DVD at www.FightingforLifetheMovie.com.

And as we go from the Kent State anniversary to Memorial Day at the end of this month, I’m grateful that the men and women warriors returning from Iraq and Afghanistan are being treated with respect rather than name calling.

Are you showing your support for our troops? If you need ideas of some projects you can support, see www.MrsLieutenant.com.___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Monday, May 4, 2009

May 4, 1970 -- The infamous day that Ohio National Guardsmen shot and killed four Kent State University students and wounded several others.

And it is on this day that my novel MRS. LIEUTENANT begins as four very different women and their R.O.T.C. husbands travel towards Ft. Knox, Kentucky, for the husbands to begin Armor Officers Basic.

The student protests at Kent State have been in response to President Nixon sending American troops into Cambodia, widening the Vietnam War fighting. The scenes of American dead and wounded fill the nightly television screens.

The war with its drafted young men is widely unpopular in the United States. Protests take place from Wall Street to Main Street.

Read MRS. LIEUTENANT to learn what happens when these four young women are thrown together at Ft. Knox and must deal with their racial, religious, and class differences while fearing that their husbands will be killed in Vietnam.___

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.

Saturday, May 2, 2009

Thanks to the informative May 2009 newsletter put out by Military Writers Society of America president Joyce Faulkner, I learned about VeteransRadio.net. Dale Throneberry's newsletter article about this weekly radio program said in part:

Veterans Radio is dedicated to all of the 25 million living men and women who have served or are currently serving in the armed forces of America. Our mission is to provide all veterans with a voice, to give them a forum where they are able to discuss their issues, and to provide information to all veterans regarding the rights and privileges they earned by serving their country.

Veterans Radio is produced by veterans for veterans. The founders and hosts of Veterans Radio are Dale Throneberry, an Army helicopter pilot with the 195th Assault Helicopter Company in Vietnam in 1969, Bob Gould, an Army Airborne Medic stationed at Ft. Campbell, Kentucky in the early 60's, and Gary Lillie, a Navy Seabee MCB3, Chu Lai RVN '66.

Phyllis Zimbler Miller is the author of MRS. LIEUTENANT: A SHARON GOLD NOVEL and the co-author of the Jewish holiday book SEASONS FOR CELEBRATION. She also blogs at LA Internet Business Examiner, Operation Support Jews in the Military, and Fiction Marketing, and she is the co-host of the BlogTalkRadio show Your Military Life. Her company Miller Mosaic LLC builds call-to-action websites for book authors and small businesses.